President Vladimir Putin meeting with Russian Olympic team athletes and coaches. From left to right: Alexei Mishin, Evgeni Plushenko, Valentin Piseev, Elena Berezhnaya, Vladimir Putin, Anton Sikharulidze, Irina Slutskaya, Tamara Moskvina, Zhanna Gromova.

Valentin Nikolaevich Piseev (Russian: Валентин Николаевич Писеев; born 28 September 1941 in Volokolamsk) is a former general director of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia (until 2014)[1] and the member of Russian Olympic Committee. He had been the president of the Russian Figure Skating Federation (from 1992 to 2010) before becoming a director, and the president of the Figure Skating Federation of the USSR (from 1988 to 1992, till the dissolution of the Soviet Union).

His wife Alla Shekhovtsova is a figure skating judge.[2][3] She is 23 years younger than her husband. He has a daughter Kristina (born 1974) from prior marriage, and a son Stanislav (born 1989) from Alla Shekhovtsova.[4]

Biography

Piseev was born in Volokolamsk, but his mother, Anna, soon left to her home village Khotrovo. He started skating at that time.[4] In 1948 the family moved to Moscow. Piseev continued skating at the Young Pioneers rink, where he was noticed by a figure skating coach Igor Vonzblein and invited to his skating class.[4] He was later coached by Tatiana Tolmacheva.[5] He didn't achieve notable results in figure skating, competing at the local and regional competitions. Piseev stopped skating due to injury. Tatiana Tolmacheva advised him to try coaching.[4]

In 1964 he graduated from the Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism with a qualification of Physical Education Teacher. After graduation, he worked as a coach and later as a senior coach of the Young Pioneers rink.[5] In 1965-1967 Piseev headed the All-Union Board of Judges.[5] Since 1967 he had been working as the secretary of the Figure Skating Federation of the USSR. Since 1968 he monitored the work of other coaches.[4]

As a figure skating judge, he was among the judge crews at the European Figure Skating Championships, World Figure Skating Championships during 1972-1977.[5] He also judged the Winter Olympic Games in 1972 and 1976. From 1977 he was a part of the International Skating Union (ISU) technical committee.

In 1989 Piseev was elected the president of the Figure Skating Federation of the USSR and after its dissolution the Federation of Russia. In 2010, he decided not to participate in the next presidential election and Aleksandr Gorshkov became a new president of the Federation.[6]

Orders and medals

Criticism

Before his retirement Piseev had been criticised by Anton Sikharulidze, Tatiana Tarasova and other notable figures in the figure skating world, especially after Russia's failures at the 2010 Winter Olympics.[9][10] He was blamed for the confusion with Olympic accreditations, particularly because his daughter Kristina received the accreditation and was sent as an interpreter with the Russian snowboarding team, while Irina Zhuk, the coach of skaters Jana Khokhlova / Sergei Novitski, was not able to get the Olympic accreditation and had to stay in Russia.[11]

In 2010 interview Irina Rodnina criticised Pissev for not doing his job and for expecting others "to do work for him". She also commented that he has "no authority, and no respect" among international colleagues.[12] Elena Tchaikovskaia stated that Piseev only listened "to one adviser", which was his wife, and criticized him for making a "family business" out of figure skating.[13] She also told that he "has hampered the work of coaches he does not like, got rid of opponents, and surrounded himself with people who agree with him".[14]

Piseev was criticized for holding the position of the president for too long; for being too conservative; for pushing certain skaters at the expense of others and supporting only selected skaters.[15][16]

Anton Sikharulidze commented on the presidential election that functions of the president were changed and "limited to representative", and the whole post turned nominal, while real power belongs to the general director.[17] However Tatiana Tarasova approved Piseev's appointment as a general director of the Figure Skating Federation, stating he "is no friend of mine", but "not using his knowledge and international authority would be very wrong".[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Александр Коган: "Супруга отправилась за мной в Сибирь, как жены декабристов"". Figure Skating Federation of Russia.
  2. ↑ Brennan, Christine (21 February 2014). "Brennan: Skating Insiders Question Sochi Gold Judging". USA Today. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  3. ↑ Solovyev, Vasily (12 April 2010). "Interview with Alla Shekhovtsova (part 2)" (in Russian). Fskate.ru. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Solovyev, Vladislav. "Interview with Valentin Piseev" (in Russian). Volokolamsk Week. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Валентин Николаевич Писеев. Биографическая справка (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  6. ↑ Babeshkin, Andrew (April 10, 2010). "Ice Revolution" (in Russian). Volga Commune. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  7. ↑ Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 27 февраля 1998 года № 206 «О награждении государственными наградами Российской Федерации спортсменов, тренеров, работников физической культуры и спорта по итогам XVIII зимних Олимпийских игр 1998 года»
  8. ↑ Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 22 апреля 1994 года № 808 «О награждении государственными наградами Российской Федерации спортсменов, тренеров, работников физической культуры и спорта Российской Федерации по итогам XVII зимних Олимпийских игр 1994 года»
  9. ↑ Vaytsekhovskaya, Elena (12 April 2012). Алла Шеховцова: первая леди (in Russian). Sport Express. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  10. ↑ Gubina, Marina (April 7, 2010). Нет желающих возглавить фигурное катание России (in Russian). Infox.ru. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  11. ↑ Валентин Писеев отправил на Олимпиаду свою дочь, а не тренера (in Russian). Sportcom. March 5, 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  12. ↑ Ирина Роднина: «Спортивные чиновники страх потеряли!» (in Russian). Komsomolskaya Pravda. February 24, 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  13. ↑ Елена Чайковская: нельзя из фигурного катания делать семейный бизнес (in Russian). All Sport. March 15, 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  14. ↑ Smith, Beverley (9 June 2010). "Russia's figure skating power play". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  15. ↑ Solovyev, Vasily (12 April 2010). "Interview with Alla Shekhovtsova (part 1)". Proizvolnaya Programma (in Russian). Fskate.ru. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  16. ↑ Solovyev, Vasily (12 April 2010). "Interview with Alla Shekhovtsova (part 4)". Proizvolnaya Programma (in Russian). Fskate.ru. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  17. ↑ Антон Сихарулидзе: Министерство юстиции РФ решит, насколько принятые документы соответствуют российскому законодательству, насколько легитимны прошедшие выборы [Anton Sikharulidze: The Ministry of Justice will decide whether the approved documents comply with Russian legislation and whether the elections are legitimate] (in Russian). AllSport. June 4, 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  18. ↑ "V Sochi s Novymi Silami". press release (in Russian). Figure Skating Federation of Russia. Archived from the original on November 22, 2010. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
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